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Space of Synagogues is quite a noticeable case of Jewish history sites commemoration in Ukraine. Not only it differs so much from conventional memorials due to its integration in modern urban scenery of Lviv and human-scale orientation; it is also a rare example of a project that was initiated and facilitated by a state structure in cooperation with Jewish communities and NGO’s.

It was very important the the opening event communicated a message about common history and responsibility. So except of an official inauguration there has been also an art-program “The Art of Memory: Voices of the City”, which had to become an artistic invitation to rethink and deeply comprehend the importance of cultural and social diversity both in the past and the present.

Workshop “Mapping Presence: Jewish Heritage Sites, Initiatives, and Experiences in Ukraine”, that was held on September 4 as a part of the “Space of Synagogues” opening, took place at the Center for Urban History and gathered a small but highly interested audience of approximately 50 people.

After long months of planning, negotiations and preparations, an official inauguration of the “Space of Synagogues” has eventually taken place in the central quarter of Lviv. Few thousands of visitors came to join the event.

After weeks of work, months of planning and years of research, the first part of engraved stones has been placed between the conserved remains of the Golden Rose Synagogue and the marked site of Beth Hamidrash..

On July 22 we have witnesses the “historical moment” in action – the Gleditsia triacanthos have been planted at the space of Beth Hamidrash to start the arrangement of a green space.The grass seeds were planted at the site as well.

On July 09, 2016, a Lviv-based Radio SKOVORODA has recorded a podacst with Sofia Dyak and Andrii Moskalenko, dedicated to the “Space of Synagogues” project. This podcast was a pilot record for a “Places of Successful Ideas” project, that has been launched recently on Radio SKOVORODA.

‘The way Ukrainians speak about the Holocaust is what makes Europeans out of us, or not,’ Timothy Snyder, professor at Yale University said last Sunday in Lviv. He emphasized that experiences of the WWII are different in different countries. But the history of the Holocaust unites them all.

Implementation of the ‘Space of Synagogues’ project is heading into its homestretch. It is implemented on the site in a Jewish neighborhood in the inner city of Lviv. In September, organizers invite you to the ceremony to open the first in Ukraine commemorative space of the kind.

Let us tell you some good news about the ‘Perpetuation’ memorial installation, which will become a part of the ‘Space of Synagogues’ project in Lviv. Few days ago the team of the project has visited the manufacture where the stone plates with quotations are preparing.

On April 19 the ‘Hesed Arieh’ All-Ukrainian Jewish Charity Fund hosted an event where organizers of the project ‘Space of Synagogues: Jewish History, Common Heritage and Responsibility’ made a presentation to the Jewish community of Lviv about preliminary results of the project.

On April 21-22, 2016 the International Conference “Decentralisation of power – Contemporary Challenges and Opportunities” was held in Lviv. According to organizers, the conference was a pilot project for the development of friendly relations between Ukraine and Germany, specifically on the community level.

We are pleased to announce, to those interested in the “Space of Synagogues” project, that thanks to the efforts of the Lviv City Council, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Center for Urban History, and donors from across the world, we were able to collect the full amount of money necessary to complete the first phase of the project.

Work that was suspended last year, on the territory of the project ‘Space of Synagogues: Jewish History, Common Heritage and Responsibility,’ will be renewed in the spring. Project organizers say that marking of the foundation of the Beth Hamidrash (Building of Learning) will continue as soon as weather permits.

During his stay in Lviv, the Honorary Consul of Israel in Western Ukraine, Oleg Vyshniakov spent the evening at the Center for Urban History to learn about the project “Space of Synagogues: Jewish History, Heritage, and Shared Responsibility.”

International Fundraising campaign for the implementation of the second part of the project ‘Space of Synagogues: Jewish History, Common Heritage and Responsibility’ has already raised about UAH 200 000. Donations came from Ukraine, Austria, United States, Israel, Germany and Great Britain. The campaign is still on. They still need to raise over UAH 1.5 mln, inform the campaign organizers.

Year 2015 in Lviv has seen the restoration of 15 balconies, 130 windows, and 17 gates in the city’s historic downtown. Extensive works have been done on the construction of the Memorial Museum of Totalitarian Regimes “Territory of Terror”, the conservation of the Golden Rose Synagogue is underway, and this list goes on. Here is a short summary of year 2015 in the context of historical heritage preservation.

At the site of the Golden Rose Synagogue and Beth Hamidrash, where work is continuing on the implementation of the project “Space of Synagogues,” Mr. Eliab Byelotserkovski the Ambassador of Israel to Ukraine made a visit.

The floor pales framing the path towards the remains of the Golden Rose Synagogue and the elements indicating the position of the walls of the former building Beth Hamidrash are being produced from a high-quality terrazzo of bright color at a suburb of Lviv.

The second stage of the project “The Space of Synagogues: Jewish History, Common Heritage and Responsibility” started on October 1st with an official press conference at the construction site, the former space of Beth Hamidrash.

The presentation of the project “Space of Synagogues: Jewish History, Common Heritage and Responsibility” aimed to commemorate Jewish history, realize the tragedy of Holocaust, to preserve common heritage and to reconsider the significance of memorial educational spaces, as well as to create new attitudes to such spaces in Lviv.

On July 15, 2015 the fence around the remaining fragments of the Golden Rose Synagogue and the former space of Beth Hamidrash became an exhibition site. Jason Francisco’s exhibition “The Golden Rose” is a visual and textual meditation about time and loss of memory of one of the most famous synagogues in Europe.